Conor Benn has his say on whether he will face Chris Eubank Jr in a trilogy fight after he got his revenge with a unanimous decision victory in their rematch at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
WATCH MORE: ‘It wasn’t there’ – Eubank after loss to Benn
Here is how things stand on Sunday, November 16:
Thousands of protesters have marched in North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, demanding justice for the 63 people who were killed in a fire at a nightclub in March.
The rally on Saturday comes ahead of the trial of the 34 people and three companies charged over the incident, which marked the deadliest blaze in North Macedonia’s history.
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The fire broke out at the crowded Pulse club in the eastern town of Kocani during a hip-hop concert on March 16, triggering a stampede and killing 63 people. Some 200 others were injured.
Most of the victims were aged between 16 and 26.
Families of the victims and their supporters marched to the North Macedonian parliament on Saturday, dressed in black and carrying a huge banner with pictures of the victims, saying, “63 shadows will be following you”.
The protesters also chanted “justice for Kocani”.
The families blame corruption and greed for the deaths of their children at the unlicensed venue in Kocani. Authorities said the fire was sparked by a pyrotechnic flame that engulfed the roof of the club and that the venue had numerous and serious safety violations.
Natalija Gjorgjieska was among the families demanding justice on Saturday.
Her husband, musician Andrej Gjorgjieski, was killed in the fire. “We demand the truth. Where did the mistakes occur, who didn’t respond, which institutions were late, who had the responsibility to prevent [them] and did not?” she said.
The prosecution filed indictments for 34 people, among them the club owner, security guards and former mayors of Kocani, as well as representatives of three legal entities, including the security firm and the club owner’s companies.
They are accused of “serious crimes against public security”.
Other defendants include inspectors, civil servants and former economy ministers. If found guilty, they face up to 10 years in prison.
Corruption has long plagued North Macedonia. The Berlin-based monitor Transparency International ranked North Macedonia in 88th place globally on its Corruption Perception Index last year, one of the worst rankings in Europe.
Bribes to authorities to skip licensing requirements and skirt safety regulations are commonplace.
Conor Benn dominated Chris Eubank Jr for 12 rounds in their middleweight clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday to claim a unanimous decision victory, exacting revenge for his defeat in the pair’s first meeting in April.
Benn lost that fight after all three judges scored it 116-112 in favour of his opponent, but there was no doubting who won Saturday’s clash as the 29-year-old put on the most complete performance of his professional career over 36 minutes.
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Similar to the first fight, Benn came out strongly in the opening rounds, coming in under his opponent’s jab to land some heavy blows, but this time, there was to be no fall-off in production as Eubank Jr struggled from the opening bell.
Eubank Jr looked to make his height and reach advantage tell midway through the third round, punishing Benn when he allowed his head to go over his front foot, but Benn’s fast footwork allowed him to get in and out without suffering too much damage.
With Benn controlling the tempo, Eubank Jr found himself forced to lock his opponent up in the clinch to avoid damage when his guard was breached.
Sensing his adversary beginning to tire, Benn stepped on the gas in the seventh round, launching savage shots to the body to slow him down even further. Eubank Jr tried to respond, but there was little malice in his usually potent jab until he finally landed some offence late in the eighth round.
That was to be as good as it got for Eubank Jr, and Benn went for broke in the final frame, knocking his opponent to the canvas twice, with the bell coming to Eubank Jr’s rescue at the end of another epic clash between the two British boxers.
With the two boxers’ fathers engaging in a heated rivalry in the 1990s that echoed in their sons’ two 2025 clashes, Benn recorded his family’s first victory over the Eubanks and quickly drew a line under it, saying there would be no rematch.
“I feel like this is the end of the Benn-Eubank saga. Done. Finished. It’s over … this ends here,” he said, before taking a swipe at his detractors and praising Eubank Jr.
“Everyone’s saying, I can’t box? Put that in your pipe and smoke it … credit to Chris man, that’s all I say. Thank you for sharing the ring with me.”
For his part, Eubank Jr was gracious in defeat, giving no excuses for his flat performance and hailing his opponent as the better man.
“I’ve been through hell and back to get to this night, and it is what it is. I tried my best, and listen, the kid fought hard. He fought tough. He’s got power,” he said.
“Who knows, maybe we will see something new between me and him, and maybe we won’t, but for right now, it’s all about this man. It’s his night.”
What’s the opposite of glorious failure?
For a whole generation of Scotland supporters who have been brought up on heroic performances ultimately proving fruitless, this campaign has produced preposterous result after preposterous result.
Steve Clarke’s side are now – somehow, inexplicably – one game away from qualifying for a first men’s World Cup in 27 years, and are doing so amid a series of inglorious successes.
The extraordinary game in Pireaus on Saturday – which Scotland lost 3-2 having trailed 3-0 – was the latest, and arguably most ludicrous outing in this squad’s outrageous quest for immortality.
Should they reach next summer’s tournament in North America, they’ll owe Belarus a few beers after they drew with Denmark in Copenhagen to set up Tuesday’s winner-takes-all shootout with the Danes.
They can head to the bar after they’ve thanked their lucky stars for the sequence of events which have, for once, fallen in their favour and contributed to the position the Scots find themselves in.
Clarke perhaps put it best in his post-match news conference: “A crazy game, a crazy night”.
It was one which started – and equally ended – with a magnificent mixed bag of emotions.
The elder statesmen of the Tartan Army, who have trod these waters before, were cautious.
A trip away to an already-eliminated Greece, who supposedly had nothing to play for, was not as simple as the script would suggest.
Within seven minutes, that was shown.
How Tasos Bakasetas’ goal ended up the sole product of the first half remains puzzling.
The shaken Scots could have been left with an insurmountable task or tied at 1-1 in equal measure after a mind-boggling first 45 minutes where 42-year-old Craig Gordon rolled back the years with a vintage display.
There was no structure on a night where a stalemate would have sufficed.
The unpredictability of the game in Greece grew in the second half when sounds of extraordinary scenes in Copenhagen came calling.
Captain Andy Robertson admitted it “was a bit strange” to hear the away fans cheering with their side 3-1 down and seemingly waving goodbye to automatic qualification.
The premise on the trip to Pireaus was avoid defeat, because we could assume top seeds Denmark would deal with Belarus – 103rd in the world rankings – in similar vein to their 6-0 trouncing last month.
If it was Scotland, this would have been billed as a potential banana skin and likely filed under the aforementioned glorious failures.
“We’ve got a lucky break,” Clarke told BBC Scotland. “Belarus have done us a big favour in Denmark and that gives us everything to play for on Tuesday.
“When it went 3-0, I put some different instructions on to the pitch. I won’t tell you what, but it was more with play-offs in mind.
And remarkably, tried they did. Which seemed beyond the realms of possibility – even on this unfathomable night.
In the lead-up to Tuesday – albeit it is short – there will be plenty pondering over “what actually happened in Piraeus?”.
It’s a thread which has run through the two previous windows in this condensed campaign.
Even on the eve of Saturday’s game, Clarke was still being asked of the “anger” he unleashed at half-time in October’s narrow win against Belarus.
The performance in that was poor. It was scrutinised even more given the showing – and ultimate smash-and-grab – against Greece in Glasgow days before.
The head coach admitted he was conscious his side were close to losing a game that night they shouldn’t have. Ultimately they didn’t, but they – and those in the stands – didn’t need that scare.
The warnings they were supposed to take from last month must have got lost in their travels to their warm-weather training camp in Turkey.
Clarke, correctly, caveated October’s disappointment with “getting the most important thing, the six points on offer”.
That took the tally to 10 after four points were scooped up in September. And even that was earned after a ropey first half in Copenhagen was rewarded with a point and a forgettable three points followed in Hungary at the expense of Belarus.
That’s all Scotland need to do to banish ghosts and book their spot at the 2026 World Cup. Keep the heid.
Nine of Clarke’s squad weren’t born in 1998. He said earlier this week to BBC Scotland: “What a chance to become instantly written into the history books of Scotland.
“That’s what’s there, the chance is there to do it. We’re the guys that can make it happen and that’s what we aim to do.”
That has always been the aim, but it’s one that has always just been missed in its own Scottish way.
There is now just one more hurdle to be hopped. That immortality is within touching distance.
“One of my favourite sayings to the players is play with the anticipation of success and not the fear of failure,” Clarke said in his rallying cry to the Tartan Army.
“I’m going to ask the Hampden crowd to do that on Tuesday night.
“We need them to be with us in the difficult moments, because that’s what this group of players deserve.
